Samsung Galaxy S20 vs Note 9
59
out of 100
VS
48
out of 100
Here we compared two flagship smartphones: the 6.2-inch Samsung Galaxy S20 (with Exynos 9 Octa 990) that was released on February 11, 2020, against the Samsung Galaxy Note 9, which is powered by Exynos 9 Octa 9810 and came out 1 year and 7 months before. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the devices.
Select the amount of RAM to evaluate performance and value for money more precisely
Key differences
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy S20
- Higher display refresh rate – 120 Hz
- 50% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (907K versus 606K)
- More recent OS version: Android 13 versus 10
- Uses a faster type of memory: LPDDR5 3200 MHz
- Compatible with Wi-Fi 6 wireless networks
- Delivers 24% higher peak brightness (821 against 663 nits)
- Has 33% more RAM: 8GB versus 6GB
- 10% higher pixel density (563 vs 514 PPI)
- Supports higher wattage charging (25W versus 15W)
- Better grip in hands – the body is 7.3 mm narrower
- The phone is 1 year and 7 months newer
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy Note 9
- Shows 21% longer battery life (19:26 vs 16:07 hours)
- The rear camera has a 2x optical zoom
- Includes a 3.5 mm headphone audio jack port
Review
Display
Screen quality, color accuracy, brightness
Camera
Photo and video recording quality
Performance
CPU and memory performance (apps, system)
Gaming
Capabilities for playing modern games
Battery
Battery life, charging type and speed
Connectivity
Networks, ports, data transmission
Select your primary usage scenario to get a more accurate NanoReview Score
Value for money (Beta)
Tests and specifications
Comparison table of technical specifications and testsDisplay
| Type | Dynamic AMOLED | Super AMOLED |
| Size | 6.2 inches | 6.4 inches |
| Resolution | 1440 x 3200 pixels | 1440 x 2960 pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 20:9 | 18.5:9 |
| PPI | 563 ppi | 514 ppi |
| Refresh rate | 120 Hz | 60 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | No | No |
| Max rated brightness | 800 nits | 520 nits |
| Max rated brightness in HDR | 1200 nits | - |
| HDR support | Yes, HDR10+ | Yes, HDR10 |
| Screen protection | Corning Gorilla Glass 6 | Corning Gorilla Glass 5 |
| Screen-to-body ratio | 88.5% | 84% |
| Display features | - DCI-P3 - Always-On Display |
- Always-On Display |
| RGB color space | 99.8% | 144.6% |
| PWM | 242 Hz | 227 Hz |
| Response time | 8.5 ms | 8 ms |
| Contrast | ∞ Infinity | ∞ Infinity |
Screen space comparison
Galaxy Note 9
6.4″ (18.5:9 ratio) = 16.1 in2
Galaxy S20
6.2″ (20:9 ratio) = 14.4 in2
~12% more screen space
Peak brightness test (auto)
Design and build
| Height | 151.7 mm (5.97 inches) | 161.9 mm (6.37 inches) |
| Width | 69.1 mm (2.72 inches) | 76.4 mm (3.01 inches) |
| Thickness | 7.9 mm (0.31 inches) | 8.8 mm (0.35 inches) |
| Weight | 163 g (5.75 oz) | 201 g (7.09 oz) |
| Waterproof | IP68 | IP68 |
| Rear material | Glass | Glass |
| Frame material | Metal | Metal |
| Colors | Gray, Blue, Red | Black, Blue, Brown |
| Fingerprint scanner | Yes, in-display | Yes, rear |
Screen-to-body ratio
Performance
| Chipset | Samsung Exynos 9 Octa 990 | Samsung Exynos 9 Octa 9810 |
| Max clock | 3020 MHz | 2700 MHz |
| CPU cores | 8 (2 + 2 + 4) | 8 (4 + 4) |
| Architecture | - 4 cores at 2 GHz: Cortex-A55 - 2 cores at 2.5 GHz: Cortex-A76 - 2 cores at 2.73 GHz: Exynos M5 |
- 4 cores at 1.9 GHz: Cortex-A55 - 4 cores at 2.9 GHz: Exynos M3 |
| L3 cache | 2 MB | - |
| Manufacturing | Samsung | Samsung |
| Lithography process | 7 nanometers | 10 nanometers |
| Neural processor (NPU) | Yes | Yes |
| Graphics | Mali-G77 MP11 | Mali-G72MP18 |
| GPU shading units | 352 | 216 |
| GPU clock | 832 MHz | 572 MHz |
| FLOPS | ~585.7 GFLOPS | ~247.1 GFLOPS |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Compute Score (GPU)
| Compute Score (GPU) | - | 4340 |
| Single-core score | 996 | 683 |
| Multi-core score | 2914 | 1853 |
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
| CPU | 370196 | 246972 |
| GPU | 130687 | 93460 |
| Memory | 151878 | 127081 |
| UX | 254379 | 139080 |
| Total score | 907140 | 606593 |
| Samples | [4 tests] | [4 tests] |
3DMark Steel Nomad Light
| Stability | 73% | - |
| Graphics test | 3 FPS | - |
| Graphics score | 391 | - |
3DMark Wild Life Extreme
| Stability | 71% | - |
| Graphics test | 8 FPS | - |
| Graphics score | 1414 | - |
PCMark 3.0
| Web score | 9900 | 5745 |
| Video editing | 5850 | 5461 |
| Photo editing | 32007 | 9629 |
| Data manipulation | 8870 | 5819 |
| Writing score | 13632 | 6229 |
Recent User Tests
Samsung Galaxy S20
| Date | Benchmark | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 📘 2026-06-17 -> wrath | AnTuTu | 953700 |
| 📘 2026-06-16 (Wrath) | AnTuTu | 907140 |
| 📘 2026-03-26 (Soulsinho) | AnTuTu | 888046 |
| 📘 2026-01-20 (minxvix) | AnTuTu | 876396 |
| 📘 2024-09-21 (Muhammad Abdullah Haider) | GeekBench CPU | 996 / 2914 |
Samsung Galaxy Note 9
| Date | Benchmark | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 📘 2026-06-16 (PatrickVN) | AnTuTu | 606593 |
| 📘 2026-05-31 (Fermallow) | GeekBench CPU | 676 / 2002 |
| 📘 2026-05-31 (Fermallow) | AnTuTu | 629687 |
| 📘 2025-10-16 (Tuâns 🇻🇳) | AnTuTu | 591549 |
| 📘 2025-10-11 (OnionTails) | AnTuTu | 594285 |
Memory
| RAM size | 8 GB | 6 GB |
| Memory type | LPDDR5 | LPDDR4X |
| Memory clock | 3200 MHz | 1794 MHz |
| Channels | 2 | 2 |
| Storage size | 128 GB | 128 GB |
| Storage type | UFS 3.0 | UFS 2.1 |
| Memory card | MicroSD | MicroSD |
| Memory card max size | Up to 1000 GB | Up to 512 GB |
Software
| Operating system | Android 10.0 (Can be upgraded to Android 13) | Android 8.1 (Can be upgraded to Android 10) |
| ROM | One UI 5.1 | One UI 2.5 |
| OS size | 20.1 GB | 19 GB |
| OS updates | 2 years | - |
| Security updates | 4 years | - |
Battery
| Capacity | 4000 mAh | 4000 mAh |
| Max charge power | 25 W | 15 W |
| Battery type | Li-Ion | Li-Po |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Wireless charging | Yes (15 W) | Yes, Qi/PMA (15 W) |
| Reverse charging | Yes, (wireless) | No |
| Fast charging | Yes (100% in 75 min) | Yes, Samsung Adaptive Fast Charge (50% in 35 min) |
| Full charging time | 1:15 hr | 1:40 hr |
| Web browsing | 06:49 hr | 07:31 hr |
| Watching video | 10:33 hr | 11:36 hr |
| Gaming | 04:30 hr | 05:01 hr |
| Standby | 69 hr | 96 hr |
General battery life
Main camera
| Matrix | 12 megapixels | 12 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 4000 x 3000 | 4000 x 3000 |
| Zoom | Optical, 1.1x | Optical, 2x |
| Flash | LED | Dual LED |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| 8K video recording | Up to 24FPS | No |
| 4K video recording | Up to 60FPS | Up to 60FPS |
| 1080p video recording | Up to 60FPS | Up to 60FPS |
| Slow motion | 960 FPS (720p) | 960 FPS (720p) |
| Angle of widest lens | 120° | - |
| Lenses | 1) Standard: 12 MP 2) Telephoto: 64 MP 3) Ultrawide: 12 MP |
1) Standard: 12 MP 2) Telephoto: 12 MP |
| Camera features | - Bokeh mode - Pro mode - RAW support |
- Bokeh mode - Pro mode - RAW support |
| Image resolution | 12 MP | 12 MP |
| Aperture | f/1.8 | f/1.5 - 2.4 |
| Focal length | 26 mm | 26 mm |
| Sensor | Samsung S5K2LD | Samsung SAK2L3 |
| Sensor size | 1/1.76" (≈ 0.57 inch) | 1/2.55" (≈ 0.39 inch) |
| Pixel size | 1.8 micron | 1.4 micron |
| Autofocus | Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) | Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| Image resolution | 64 MP | 12 MP |
| Aperture | f/2.0 | f/2.4 |
| Focal length | 29 mm | 52 mm |
| Sensor | Samsung Bright S5KGW2 | Samsung |
| Sensor size | 1/1.72" (≈ 0.58 inch) | 1/3.4" (≈ 0.29 inch) |
| Pixel size | 0.8 micron | 1 micron |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| Image resolution | 12 MP | - |
| Aperture | f/2.2 | - |
| Focal length | 13 mm | - |
| Sensor | Samsung S5K2LA | - |
| Sensor size | 1/2.55" (≈ 0.39 inch) | - |
| Pixel size | 1.4 micron | - |
| Stabilization | Digital | - |
DxOMark main camera tests
Photo quality
Video quality
Generic main camera score
| Samples | - | Photo samples of Samsung Galaxy Note 9 from DxOMark |
Selfie camera
| Megapixels | 10 megapixels | 8 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 2592 x 3872 | 3264 x 2448 |
| Aperture | f/2.2 | f/1.7 |
| Focal length | 26 mm | 25 mm |
| Sensor | Samsung S5K3J1 | Samsung S5K3H1 |
| Sensor size | 1/3.2" (≈ 0.31 inch) | 1/3.6" (≈ 0.28 inch) |
| Pixel size | 1.22 micron | 1.22 micron |
| Autofocus | Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) | Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) |
| Stabilization | Digital | Digital |
| Video resolution | 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS | 1440p at 30 FPS |
| Depth sensor (TOF 3D) | No | No |
Connectivity
| Wi-Fi standard | Wi-Fi 6 (802.11 b/g/n/ac/ax) | Wi-Fi 5 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac) |
| Wi-Fi features | - Wi-Fi Direct - Wi-Fi Hotspot - Wi-Fi Display |
- Dual Band - Wi-Fi Direct - Wi-Fi Hotspot |
| Bluetooth version | 5 | 5 |
| Bluetooth features | LE, A2DP | PBAP/PAB, PAN, OPP, MAP, LE, HSP, HID, HFP, DIP, AVRCP, A2DP |
| USB type | USB Type-C | USB Type-C |
| USB version | 3.1 | 3.1 |
| USB features | - Charging - USB-Storage mode - OTG |
- Charging - USB-Storage mode - OTG |
| GPS | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo |
| NFC* | Yes | Yes |
| Infrared port | No | No |
| Number of SIM* | 2 | 2 |
| Type of SIM card | Nano | Nano |
| Multi SIM mode | Standby | Standby |
| eSIM support* | Yes | No |
| Hybrid slot | Yes | Yes |
| LTE Cat* | 22 | 18 |
| 5G support | No | No |
Sound
| Speakers | Stereo | Stereo |
| Headphone audio jack | No | Yes |
| FM radio | No | No |
| Dolby Atmos | Yes | Yes |
Speakers test
Max loudness
Other
| Category | Flagship | Flagship |
| Announced | February 2020 | August 2018 |
| Release date | March 2020 | August 2018 |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $999 | $1000 |
| Successor | - Samsung Galaxy S25 FE | - Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra |
| SAR (head) | 0.28 W/kg | 0.381 W/kg |
| SAR (body) | 1.52 W/kg | 1.509 W/kg |
| Sensors | - Barometer - Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Compass - Fingerprint |
- Hall-effect sensor - Barometer - Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Fingerprint |
*Disclaimer! NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.
Conclusion
After analyzing all the data, we think that the Samsung Galaxy S20 is definitely a better buy.
Cast your vote
Total votes: 71